THE INHERENT CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS CREATE SERIOUS DOUBTS ON THEIR COMPATIBILITY WITH INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW.
LAW OF WAR; AUTONOMOUS WEAPONRY AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW Autonomous weapons can be described as weapons which once they are activated, they select targets and engage them with violent force without further intervention by human operators [1] . Autonomy is a matter of degree, it ranges from weapons which operate with some degree of human oversight and those that operate completely independent. These autonomous weapons pose considerable challenges for international humanitarian law (IHL), in particular to the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution. The question with regards to these weapons, is whether they will be able to satisfy the minimum requirements of IHL in the same manner that humans are capable of doing, although they sometimes wantonly disregard them. The minimum requirements are as follows; ability to distinguish between military and non-military persons and objects, ability to determine the legitimacy of targets make proportionality...